OTTAWA - If the CBC is allowed to ignore access to information requests, it will weaken the entire system, which is designed to allow the public a peek at how their tax dollars are spent.
That's not the argument of a CBC opponent, but of the federal information commissioner's legal team, which they presented in court.
The CBC is fighting commissioner Suzanne Legault in court, trying to use their claim to exemption to stop Legault's office from examining the state broadcaster's files. Legault's legal team has argued in court that allowing CBC to skirt the rules will result in other government departments and agencies following suit.
In a recent speech for Right to Know Week, Legault called her office "the first level of review to protect the rights of information requesters and complainants."
Legault has been trying to investigate 16 files which the CBC has refused to disclose, including a request to know how much the CBC spends on filing access to information requests to other government departments, how much they spent on a contest for a new Hockey Night in Canada theme song and advertising costs in Montreal.
Lawyer and access to information specialist Michel Drapeau has worked with QMI Agency and other media outlets to file access requests to government departments over the past several years. Drapeau calls CBC the worst offender for ignoring requests for information.
"Since it became subject to the access legislation in 2007, CBC has managed the rare feat of becoming the federal organization with the worst ATI record of performance," Drapeau said Friday.
"From my perspective, this is the result of a calculated corporate decision by CBC which, to make matters worse, has been engineered and applied by persons who are on the public payroll."
Drapeau once received a 1,562 page reply to one of his requests, yet only 30 pages had any information on them. The rest was either blank or blacked out. Two weeks ago CBC replied to a request on how much was spent to settle harassment complaints by issuing 52 pages of records with all the details stripped out.
Send your CBC tips to cbctips@sunmedia.ca.
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